Chapter 1 - Introducing Hardware

Adapted from A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC,

6th Edition
 Learn that a computer requires both hardware
and software to work
 Learn about the many different hardware

components inside of and connected to a

computer

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 2
 Hardware: physical portion of a computer
◦ Components: monitor, keyboard, memory, hard drive
 Software: instructions used to manipulate
hardware
◦ Requirements: input, processing, storage, output
 All hardware operations are based on binary
values
 Binary number system consists of two digits: 0
and 1
 Fundamental groupings of binary numbers:
◦ Bit: binary digit that can take on values of 0 or 1
◦ Nibble: four bits
◦ Byte: four bits

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 3
Figure 1-2 All communication, storage,
and processing of data inside a computer
are in binary form until presented as output
to the user

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 4
 Hardware can be controlled by other
Hardware.
◦ E.g. Network card receives info from the Internet,
then stores that info on the Hard Disk.
 The Network card must tell the main computer that
there is info ready to be store.
 The Network card must then transfer the data (info) to
the Hard Disk.
◦ All communication is done in binary.
 Data is transferred
 Control signals sent and received.

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 5
 A High Level Language
◦ X=X+1
 A compiler will convert this instruction to machine
code. It might look something like.
◦ Load R1,X --Load x from memory to register 1
◦ Add R1,1 --Add 1 to R1
◦ Store X,R1 --Store R1 to memory location X
 Hardware does not understand English, it understands
binary. So the computer might see:
◦ 100 01 101
◦ 010 01 001
◦ 101 101 01
 These instructions tell the system to perform a simple
arithmetic operation, in binary.

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 6
 Binary is difficult for humans to
communicate in. When we wish to describe
binary it is often easier to use Hexadecimal.
◦ E.g. Decimal 21 = 1*24 + 0*23 + 1*22 + 0*21 +
1x20
= 16 + 0 + 4 + 0 + 1
= 21
= 10101
 Hexadecimal or Hex represents binary as
groups of 4 bits.
◦ 10101
◦ 0001 0101
◦ 15 in Hex, often written as 0x15 to differentiate it
from decimal.
◦ 1*161 + 5*160

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 7
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining
your PC, 6e 8
 Most input/output (I/O) devices are external
to case
 Most processing and storage devices are
internal
 Central processing unit (CPU)
◦ Also called the processor or microprocessor
◦ Reads input, processes data, writes data to storage
 Elements required by I/O and storage devices
◦ A method for CPU to communicate with the device
◦ Software to instruct and control the device
◦ Electricity to power the device

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 9
 Connections to the case can be cabled or
wireless
 Port: access point located in back or front of
case
 Chief input devices:
◦ Keyboard: enhanced type holds 104 keys
◦ Mouse: pointing device used to select screen items
 Chief output devices:
◦ Monitor: visually displays primary output of
computer
◦ Printer: produces output on paper (hard copy)

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 10
Figure 1-6 The two most popular output devices are the
monitor and the printer

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 11
 Most storage and processing occurs in the case
 Internal devices common to most computers:
◦ Motherboard containing CPU, memory, other parts
◦ Floppy drive, hard drive, CD drive: persistent storage
◦ Power supply with power cords supplying electricity
◦ Circuit boards for internal and external
communication
◦ Cables to connect devices to all circuit boards
 Expansion cards are installed in expansion
slots
 Two types of cables: data (communication) and
power
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining
your PC, 6e 12
Figure 1-8 Inside the computer case

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 13
 The largest and most important circuit board
◦ Also known as the main board or system board
◦ Contains the CPU, expansion slots, other devices
 Categories used to group motherboard
components
◦ Processing, temporary storage, communication, power
 All devices communicate with CPU on
motherboard
 A peripheral device links to motherboard via cable
 Some motherboard ports are outside of the case:
◦ Keyboard, mouse, parallel, USB ports, sound ports

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 14
Figure 1-9 All hardware components are either located on the
motherboard or directly or indirectly connected to it because they
must all communicate with the CPU

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 16
Figure 1-10 A motherboard provides ports for common I/O devices

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 17
 CPU: chip that performs most data processing
 Chipset: group of microchips controlling data

flow
 Personal computer (PC): chief focus of this

text
 Major manufacturers of CPUs and chipsets for

PCs
◦ Intel Corporation, AMD, VIA, SiS, and Cyrix

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 18
Figure 1-12 This motherboard uses two chips in its
chipset (notice the bus lines coming from each chip
used for communication)

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 19
 Primary storage (main memory):
◦ Temporary storage used by the processor
◦ Example: RAM (random access memory)
 Secondary storage (permanent storage):
◦ Enables data to persist after the machine is turned
off
◦ Examples: hard drive, CD, floppy disk
 Analogy to primary-secondary memory
relationship
◦ Book stacks in a library are like permanent storage
◦ Books can be moved to a desk (temporary storage)
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining
your PC, 6e 20
Figure 1-13 Memory is a temporary place to hold
instructions and data while the CPU processes both

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 21
 RAM (random access memory):
◦ Device providing temporary storage
◦ Located on motherboard and on other circuit
boards
 Three types of RAM boards (memory
modules):
◦ DIMM (dual inline memory module)
◦ RIMM (Rambus inline memory module)
◦ SIMM (single inline memory module)
 RAM is volatile (data does not persist)
 ROM (read-only memory) is nonvolatile

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 22
Figure 1-14 A SIMM, DIMM, or RIMM holds RAM and
is mounted directly on a motherboard

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 23
 Hard drive
◦ Case containing disks that rotate at high speeds
◦ An arm with a read/write head traverses the platter
 Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE)
◦ Technology used internally by a hard drive
 ATA (AT Attachment) standard
◦ Specifies motherboard-hard drive interface
◦ Types: Serial ATA or parallel ATA (Enhanced IDE)
 Parallel ATA accommodates up to four IDE
devices

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 24
Figure 1-16 Hard drive with sealed cover removed

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 25
Figure 1-18 Two IDE devices connected to a motherboard
using both IDE connections and two cables

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 26
 Serial ATA standard
◦ Allows for more than four drives in a system
◦ Applies only to hard drives and not to other drives
 Some IDE devices: hard drives, Zip drives, CD
drive, floppy drives
 Floppy drive
◦ 3.5-inch disk holding 1.44 MB of data
◦ Floppy drive connector is distinct from IDE connectors.
 CD-ROM (compact disc read-only memory) drive
◦ Standard equipment for reading software distributions

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 27
Figure 1-22 A motherboard usually provides a connection
for a floppy drive cable

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 28
 Traces: circuits that move data and power
 Bus: system of pathways and transmission
protocols
 Data bus
◦ Lines in a bus that carry the data
◦ Binary bits correspond to voltage values of on or off
◦ Data path sizes: 8, 16, 32, 64, or 128 bits wide
 Main bus on motherboard (system bus, memory
bus)
◦ Communicates with CPU, memory, and chipset
 Pulse of system clock carried by line on
motherboard
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining
your PC, 6e 29
Figure 1-26 A data bus has traces or lines that carry
voltage interpreted by the CPU and other devices as bits

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 30
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining
your PC, 6e 31
 Devices work according to beats (or cycles)
 Clock speed is measured in hertz (cycles/second)

◦ One megahertz (MHz): one million cycles per second

◦ One gigahertz (GHz): one billion cycles per second
 Common ratings for motherboard buses
◦ 1066 MHz, 800 MHz, 533 MHz, or 400 MHz
 Range of CPU speeds: 166 MHz to 4 GHz
 Buses for expansion slots: PCI, AGP, ISA, PCI

express

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 32
Figure 1-29 PCI bus expansion slots are
shorter than ISA slots and offset farther;
the one AGP slot is set farther from the
edge of the board

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 33
 Some names for circuits mounted in expansion
slots:
◦ Circuit cards, adapter boards, expansion cards, cards
 Cards that connect the CPU to an external device:
◦ Video: provides a port for the monitor
◦ Sound: provides ports for speakers and microphones
◦ Network: provides a port for a network cable
◦ Modem: provides ports for phone lines
 Determine a card’s function by identifying its port

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 34
Figure 1-31 This circuit board is a modem card and is
mounted in a PCI slot on the motherboard

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 35
 Power supply
◦ Most important electrical component
◦ Converts AC voltage external source to DC voltage
◦ Reduces voltage from 110-120 volts to 12 volts or
less
◦ Runs a fan to cool the inside of the computer case
 Temperatures > 185° F can cause component
failure
 Motherboard has 1 or 2 connections to power

supply

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 36
Figure 1-35 The motherboard receives its power
from the power supply by way of one or more
connections located near the edge of the board or
near the processor

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 37
 BIOS (basic input/output system)
◦ Data and instructions stored on ROM chips
◦ ROM BIOS chips are a type of firmware
 Three purposes served by motherboard ROM
BIOS:
◦ System BIOS: used to manage simple devices
◦ Startup BIOS: used to start the computer
◦ CMOS setup: used to change motherboard settings
 CMOS RAM: includes date, time, port
configurations
 Flash ROM: ROM chips the can be overwritten

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 38
Figure 1-36 This firmware chip contains flash
ROM and CMOS RAM; CMOS RAM is powered by
the coin battery located near the chip

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 39
 Also known as ACPI
 Standards specifying a power saving feature
 Enables a system to power up by a keyboard
 Supported by most systems, such as

Windows XP
 Advanced Power Management (APM)

◦ Older BIOS power management standard

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 40
 Also known as PnP
 Standard simplifying installation of hardware
devices
 PnP BIOS begins process of configuring
devices
 PnP-compliant operating system completes
configuration
 ESCD (extended system configuration data)
Plug and Play BIOS
◦ Enhanced version of PnP
◦ Stores manual configuration steps

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 41
 A computer comprises hardware and software
 Main functions: input, output, processing,

storage
 Data is stored in a binary format (1 or 0, on or

off)
 Input/output devices: keyboard, mouse,

printer, monitor
 Motherboard (system board): contains the CPU,

access to other circuit boards and peripherals

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining

your PC, 6e 42
 Primary storage (RAM) is volatile (temporary)
 Secondary storage is nonvolatile (permanent)
 Parallel and serial ATA standards: enable

secondary storage devices to interface with the

motherboard
 Computer bus: system of communication

pathways and protocols

 ROM BIOS helps start PCs, manage simple

devices, and change some motherboard

settings
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining
your PC, 6e 43